Inclusionary zoning allows a few people to live in desirable, new construction buildings for much less than market rates. But it also carries with it a slew of perverse consequences. Because it's a tax on construction, it reduces supply. Inclusionary zoning also leads developers to build higher-end … [Read more...]
Yglesias Gives Best Tweetstorm Ever
Matthew Yglesias has a group of tweets that begin with this:Someone needs to give me an Oscar one of these years so I can subject America to a tedious discussion of land use regulation. — Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 27, 2017"In the movies, there is no minimum lot size or … [Read more...]
Only In California: Twisting an Anti-Exclusionary Law To Rationalize Exclusion
As a Market Urbanism reader, you are hopefully fluent in the problems of exclusionary zoning. If you're new to the term, there are some good pieces on the topic here and here. Basically: exclusionary zoning is the use of zoning to price people out of a community. The classic example is minimum … [Read more...]
When NIMBYs Use Renters’ Health To Stop Rental Housing
Davis, CA, is a small college town a twenty minutes' drive outside of Sacramento (on a good day). It has a vacancy rate on par with Manhattan despite being surrounded by flat, developable farmland. Some critics attribute this absurd vacancy rate to Measure R, a ballot initiative approved by Davis … [Read more...]
How To Finance A Sanctuary City
President Trump has threatened to withhold all federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities--municipal governments that do not enlist their police departments in the president's mass deportation plan. If he makes good on his threat, cities that insist on maintaining their sanctuary status can … [Read more...]
7 Reasons To Oppose Los Angeles’ Neighborhood Integrity Initiative
[This piece was originally published on the site Better Institutions.]On March 7th, Los Angeles is going to vote on the type of city it wants to be.The vote will be over Measure S, formerly known as the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative (NII), which seeks to limit housing development in the … [Read more...]
How Lexington Can Expand Affordable Housing (Without Touching the UGB)
Lexington, Kentucky is a wonderful place, and that’s getting to be a problem. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the city: its urban amenities, thriving information economy, and unique local culture have brought in throngs of economic migrants from locales as exotic as Appalachia, … [Read more...]
Same Old Story: How Planners Continue to Drive Gentrification
Planners, like all professions, have their own useful mythologies. A popular one goes something like this: “Many years ago, us planners did naughty things. We pushed around the poor, demolished minority neighborhoods, and forced gentrification. But that’s all over today. Now we protect the … [Read more...]